Volkswagen's Cariad converts its Horizon Robotics loan into a 9.9 percent stake

Cariad, Volkswagen Group’s software subsidiary, closed a debt-to-equity conversion in Horizon Robotics on August 3, lifting its stake in the Chinese driver-assistance chip designer from 1.85 percent to 9.9 percent.

Horizon told the Hong Kong exchange that the closing completed the issuance of conversion shares, the payment for what the agreement called the excess portion, and an additional cash payment, and that all rights and obligations under the original convertible loan ceased at closing. Cariad’s holding rose from 269,711,694 shares to 1,571,475,180, while total issued shares grew from 14,571,723,185 to 15,873,486,671. Founder Kai Yu was diluted from 12.39 percent to 11.37 percent.

Terms filed on July 22 set out the money. The share issuance discharged $662.4 million in outstanding principal and accrued interest. Horizon separately paid Cariad $398.9 million in cash: about $344.4 million repaying the portion of the loan not covered by shares, and about $54.5 million to redeem a conversion right over roughly 716 million shares that would otherwise have been issued at maturity. The loan was $924,855,491 when drawn in December 2023, carried a conversion price of HK$3.99 and would have matured in December 2026. Cariad accepted a 12-month lock-up covering both its new and its existing shares.

The two companies already run Carizon, a joint venture developing assisted-driving software for Volkswagen vehicles built in China. The July filing said the additional cash payment was assessed partly by reference to that venture’s role in Volkswagen Group models for Chinese volume production, and to Horizon’s licensing of the underlying autonomous-driving technology.

Source: Horizon Robotics, “Closing of the Amendment Agreement”, HKEX, August 3, 2026. Terms: CLA Amendment Announcement, July 22, 2026.